French Brotherhood: Accusations of incitement to violence and extremism pave way for ban

Nahla Abdel Moneim

France is witnessing a state of political and societal turmoil as a result of the successive attacks by extremist groups. Until recently, all the targets were executed by Islamist currents before two Muslim women were stabbed under the famous Eiffel Tower, which raises fears about racist and sectarian targets that may spread in the country.

In turn, this image leads to questions about the cultural and societal institutions of the extremist entities in the country, especially the Brotherhood. Will the group’s role as the mother leadership of newly emerging militant organizations be affected? Will the growth of the far right currents add to the violence? Will the political engine ignite the situation in order to achieve its goals, whatever they may be?

Successive attacks

The series of violence began with the stabbing carried out on September 25, near the old headquarters of the famous Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, which resulted in two wounded, following threats by al-Qaeda to re-target the magazine’s headquarters after its repeated publication of cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace).

In the same context, a French teacher presented caricatures to his students in his classes, which ignited feelings of hatred against him, until an 18-year-old of Chechen origins cut off the teacher’s head on October 16.

Then, on October 21, operatives carried out a stabbing attack against two Muslim women, and the perpetrator repeated racist phrases against Arabs. The terrifying scene forced the French authorities to open an investigation into the case.

Intellectual conflict and description discrepancies

With the intensification of the crisis, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer tweeted on October 16 regarding the beheading of the teacher and used the term “Islamic terrorism”, which he described as being brutal. This is the same term that ignited an intellectual struggle between French politicians and Islamic clerics in Europe and the Middle East over the characterization.

Politicians in Paris have recently been using the term, to which Islamic clerics object, considering it racism and an outrageous link to a certain religion with violence that it essentially rejects, despite the fact that the aggressors are just elements of groups that kill everyone, including Muslims.

For his part, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb has said that attacking religious sanctities must be criminalized, as it fuels feelings of hatred. He rejected the notion of linking religion with terrorism, describing those who practice terrorism as ignoring the teachings of the true religion and calling everyone to join hands for the sake of humanity.

As for right-wing hate practices against Muslims, whether such as burning Qurans or publishing cartoons, Saeed Sadiq, a political sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, said in a previous statement to the Reference that these practices are a reflection of the scenes of violence and hatred broadcast by Islamist groups against the West, in addition to the threats posed by their leaders against Europe for the latter’s cooperation in combating main terrorist strongholds in the Middle East.

Brotherhood and terrorism in France

The French Brotherhood has been exposed to a great wave of discontent that has long been demanded by the Middle Eastern countries that have classified the group as terrorists, such as Egypt and the UAE, but Paris and other Europeans, despite their fears, have not classified the group as such, leaving its cultural and social institutions to spread and impose its extremist ideas on the youth. The recent attacks have led to the existence of a state of societal apprehension towards the group, with parallel political and security measures to undermine the extremist influence in the country. On October 21, the French government announced the dissolution of the Sheikh Yassin Collective, accusing it of standing behind a fatwa permitting the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty.

The French authorities also reported that Abdelhakim Sefrioui, head of the Sheikh Yassin Collective, was investigated, along with his wife. On October 21, Al-Arabiya network presented information about Sefreoui’s relations with the Brotherhood, as he is a member of the Council of Imams of France and has video clips in which he incites against French President Emmanuel Macron as being anti-Muslim.

The successive scenes of attacks are pushing France towards the direction of possible strict measures to undermine the influence and finances of the Brotherhood and the institutions emanating from it in order to prevent the country from sliding back into the circle of violent Islamist targeting.